


Number 1 not-really-mystery fan

by Calla_Lilalma



Category: Bleach
Genre: Agender Character, Agender!Ulquiorra, Alternate Universe - College/University, Bullying, First Meetings, Multi, My First Work in This Fandom, Rare Pairings, Renji is head over heels, inaccurate basketball games, mentions of bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 10:03:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8975188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calla_Lilalma/pseuds/Calla_Lilalma
Summary: "You always watch our game but you’re always alone and I wanted to talk to our number one fan" AU + another prompt fusion.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hei everyone!!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS/VACATION DAYS!! I hope you're doing fine!! I'm currently studying for my midterms, or at least I'm trying!  
> But before 2016 leaves us (it can seriously fuck off for all I care) I'd like to make at least one Bleach Fic,because Bleach ended in 2016 and i's like to pay my respects (I know it didn't die but i still got really sad) and have at least one fic of my main fandoms before the year ends.  
> I'm not saying that i'll do fic only on those, that's not true i have fic ideas for other fandoms too. But those will be my main focus. 
> 
> Also, it's the first time i'm doing a genderqueer character! So any constructive critisism is welcome! And you'll probably see a pattern on genderqueer!ulquiorra in my fics. Ulquiorra is one of my top favourite characters in Bleach (which is my fav anime) and although particullary hard to bring in AUs (at least for me), it's worth it! And pairing them (i'm keeping the tone of the fic) with Renji made me ship them so much!!  
> I hope you enjoy! Don't hesitate to leave Kudos and/or comments!  
> Ps. the other prompt is on the end notes if you're looking for it, I don't want to betray the whole plot of the fic.

Running through the court is like freedom to Renji. The ball in his hands is the only thing he focuses on, dribbling it past the opponent team’s players. When he get marked, he tries to find a teammate to pass the ball to. He spots Hisagi with the guy that marks him and it seems like he can handle him with his speed. The person marking him now is either trying to rip the ball of his hands or trip him when the referee is in a blind spot.

He fake dribbles, sending the other off guard for a few seconds but it’s enough for him. He quickly passes the ball to Hisagi, who overruns his opponent and runs towards the basket.  Renji runs too.

As predicted, Hisagi gets marked tightly by the opponents, making it impossible to shoot the ball. He passes it on to Ichigo, who has stayed far in the three point line who doesn’t hesitate to make the shot.

With anticipation and what feels like slow motion but it’s actually few seconds, they watch the ball rolling around the basket’s rim and Renji can tell that it won’t go in so he approaches and  jumps. Unfortunately, one of the other players have thought the same and does the same. But Renji manages to rebound the ball and dunk it in the basket, gaining his team another two point advantage to the other.

The buzzer rings, signaling the end of the match, with them winning at 87-83 and the whole team yells loudly in victory, Hisagi and Ichigo come to hug Renji out of joy.

When they even their breathing enough, they can hear the university cheerleader squad chanting their team’s name and, much to Renji’s embarrassment, his own name.

He looks at the people on the bleachers, looking to find a familiar figure but he can’t.

“They’ve already left” Ichigo says and Renji looks at him “Come on, man. Don’t act like you don’t know who I am talking about.” He punches him lightly in the arm and waves at this girlfriend, Orihime, who sits with Rukia in the first row. She waves back at him.

“What are you talking about?” Renji and Hisagi ask at the same time , one in denial and the other in confusion.

Ichigo just rolls his eyes at them “There is a person that comes every time we play and sitting alone that caught Renji’s eye. They leave immediately after the game” he explains loudly, making the girls hear everything while approaching them.

“Again with that?” Tatsuki asks from her seat in the bench “You’ve on about this since the beginning of second year”  Renji doesn’t even look at her, he knows that the smug tone in her voice is taunting him.

He feels a sudden jab on his side, making him bend from the pain as he glares at the culprit.

“What the hell, Rukia?” he exclaims loudly.

“That’s for ignoring my girlfriend you piece of shit!” she replies earning a smile from Tatsuki.

“Thanks babe” she says and they fist bump.

“So, do we know who this person is? He may be a stalker or something?” Hisagi quips, bringing them back into the conversation.

“Umm.. average height, pale and wears glasses?” Renji answers “they always sit in the back I can’t tell. I don’t think it’s a stalker because they only come in the games.”

“Don’t worry Abarai-kun!” Orihime grins at him “We’ll help you find this person. I’ve always wanted to solve a Mystery!”

“I am not sure that’s necessary Orihime” Ichigo starts but Rukia cuts him of.

“Ichigo don’t be such a stick in the mud! Don’t listen to him Hime! Let’s make an operation!” Rukia declares making the red headed girl grin.

“Who the hell are you calling a stick in the mud you midget!?” Ichigo says and throws his towel at her.

“Ew gross! It has sweat on it” she screeches.

“It’s probably strawberry juice, babe” Tatsuki says. A moment of silence passes and then everyone bursts into laughter, except Ichigo who scowls at them and shakes his head in shame.

“I hate you all” he grumbles “Except you Hime” he corrects himself after seeing the girl pout.

Renji is clad that the atmosphere has drifted away from him and as Tatsuki informs them about their gameplay today, showing them her meticulous manager notes and telling them about the practice after today, he thinks that the plan they have about the mystery fan, the must be a fan I they come in all the games, won’t be a complete disaster.

He can’t deny that he’s been wondering who they might be or why they are always alone.

~ ~ ~ ~

Even after three years of being in this university, Renji would still find himself lost in the huge campus while looking for his class. The lecture halls changed every semester so the beginning of a new one would be his personal hell when some professors decided that the want to teach the class in a different floor or even facility.

And when he finally finds where his classes are, something like this happens and the professor decides to change the classroom for whatever reason. Now he was late to his mathematics class and he was pretty sure he was lost in another faculty.

He started looking around, trying to find another student to ask where he was and where his fucking class happened to be. But the halls were empty.

Suddenly he hears voices from the other hall and with a sigh of relief jogs toward there.

But his relief is cut short when he turns to the hallway and notices the scene in front of him/ He internally groans.

He was glad the university was nothing like high school, but the times it was like that, it was ten times worst.

Like fucking bullies. When high school bullies were bad, university bullies were the fucking worst.  They were spoiled frat boys that were catcalling women and bulling other students  for  the exact same stupid reasons from high school. And now it seems like it is that case.

Three people, Renji remembers they are from the football team and well known assholes, have ganged up on another student with black hair, who has their back on him. The four of them are talking but Renji is too far away to hear but waits for a signal that the three are going to attack so he can ambush them and stays hidden so they can’t see him.

He sees the sleazy smirk on the leaders face as he closes in on the other and the way his eyes look the other up and down make Renji shudder in disgust.

He starts stepping out to interfere but the black haired student beat him to it.

By punching the leader in the stomach and kneeing him in the balls.

From the way the other bends over and doesn’t even shout in pain Renji is sure that the damage is real.

The other two, just as surprised as Renji was their friend curl into himself and then their faces twist into anger as the lash out on the raven haired student.

Who kicks one on the knee, causing him to fall down and grabbing the other’s arm and twisting it behind his back, making him yell out as his kneels down at the ground.

Okay, now Renji’s both impressed and downright petrified.

Apparently, the yell drew some attention as Renji hears footsteps approaching them. It’s possible that it might be a professor and he knows that the scene won’t look good for the student.

So in a whim he run to them and grabs them by the arm.  Before he gets beat up too he says with a low and quick voice.

“Someone is coming and if you don’t want to get expelled, follow me”

He takes the silence as an affirmative.

He walks down the halls and remembers that he has no idea where he’s going. Suddenly the other pulls him to an open door that turns out to be an empty bathroom and shuts the door behind him.

Renji lets out a sigh of relief and turns to look at the other student and is met with impassive and beautiful emerald  eyes.

Looks like there is no need for an operation to find the mystery fan.

The person –he doesn’t want to assume anything - in front of him is of average height, reaching to Renji’s chest and slim wearing a black skinny jeans and a with long sleeve shirt under a long dark green coat and black uncle boots. Their raven hair frame their beautiful pale face and emphasize their eyes.

They seem delicate and fragile but Renji saw from the way he handled themselves back there and from the way they look at him straight in the eye that they are anything but that.

And from his former crushes, including Rukia (and her brother-but he’ll take that secret to his grave)at some point in his early teenage years, they were just Renji’s type.

“Um.. I am sorry for, you know, pulling you so suddenly but—“ the starts trying to make the atmosphere less awkward.

“Yes, you explained yourself before” they state with a deep monotonous voice.

“I saw you back there with those guys, I was going to interfere but you got them” Renji rubs the back of his neck as he answers sheepishly.

“Of course, trash like that are easy to handle” the other doesn’t miss a beat “but nonetheless, I appreciate your warning, I would’ve been troublesome if someone came. But why were you there?” they ask.

Renji flusters a bit and admits “I got lost. I was looking for the mathematics five lecture at hall 419.”

“I see. A science major?”

“Engineering, third year. My name’s  Renji Abarai. Nice to meet you” they both know that the other knows who Renji is but he still grins and extends his hand towards the other who looks at his hand with an unreadable expression but still takes it for a handshake. Their hand is soft but the grip is firm.

Before they can introduce themselves, voices holler from outside the bathroom.

“Cifer! You fucking bastard!” more than one pair of footsteps can be heard as they approach them.

Renji acts first “Get in one of the stalls” he says. The other scrunches their nose in disgust but complies anyways. The two of them get in the stall and lock the door.

The raven has caught on Renji’s plan as they stand on the toilet and bend over so they can be seen from either bellow or up.

He refuses to acknowledge the closeness between them or look into their eyes, fearing that he might say something embarrassing and either creep the other out or blowing their cover up, or both. So he tries to concentrate on the sounds and anything but the emerald gems right in front of his face.

The loud bang of the door being violently opened makes Renji wince a bit as the other yell outside the stall . He assumes that’s the name of the raven.

Suddenly a bang comes to his door.

“Oi! Cifer! Come out you son of a bitch! I know you’re in here!” one of them yells.

Renji takes a deep breath.

“What the fuck, man?! can’t someone take a piss in here?!” he yells, trying to act as angry as he can.

The people outside stop talking and then “Sorry man, my bad” and the footsteps became more and more distant.

They waited a little more, just in case they came back, and then Renji burst into laughter.

“Oh man! I would kill to see their faces!” he wheezes out but then stops when he sees Cifer’s lips pull up into the tiniest smirk. The only reason he can tell is because he stands so close to them.

And God, do they look gorgeous like that. They seem like someone who doesn’t smile often and Renji feels the colour of his face start matching his hair.

“It was pretty amusing” they answer “I believe they’re gone, we should get out.” they stand up and Renji opens the door shakily.

He peeks first, you can never be too careful, and when he sees that it’s clear, they get out.

“It seems that the person you had heard before you interfere was a friend of theirs” he explains.

“Yeah, but why they want to beat you up that much?” Renji wonders but immediately corrects himself “I mean… it’s not my business or anything”  _yeah Renji! fuck it up a bit more, you can do it_.

“It’s fine. After all, you helped avoid a huge inconvenience. If you hadn’t interfered, I would be still fighting them.” Their tone of voice makes Renji doubt nothing of this “Long story short, me and their.. .leader one can say have one class together. He always asks to copy my projects and I always refuse. They more intense pestering came since the day I wore a ‘feminine’ piece of clothing and he started yelling derogatory terms along with his friends.” Their words make Renji angry on their behalf as they don’t seem affected by it. He is afraid of thinking how long this harassment has been going on.  The only thing he takes from it is that those guys are even worse assholes than he knew.

“That today was the result of me giving a paper supposed to be from me and him, as we were paired up that way, without his name on it because frankly he didn’t contribute even the least.” They finish and look at Renji.

“They are bastards! Harassing you like that!” the almost shouts.

Cifer’s emerald eyes widen the slightest but it’s only for a tiny fragment of a second “I appreciate your concern but you don’t need to be concerned. I have no understanding of words meaning to harm my gender identity, or more precisely the lack of it, so they don’t affect me.”

“still!” it’s the only thing that Renji shouts.

“I see. I appreciate everything you’ve done for today and to repay you the favour, I will show you the hall you’ve been looking for.” Cifer offers.

“It’s not necessary. I didn’t do it for a favour—“ he starts.

“I wasn’t a question. I insist.” It final tone makes Renji shut up immediately.

They walk together to the hall, side by side and Renji tries to think of something to fill the silence.

He starts with the obvious “So… I didn’t catch your name. because we were… interrupted” he finishes lamely.

“Of course. How could I forget. It’s Ulquiorra Cifer. I study English and European literature. I’m also in my third year.” They introduce themselves apathetically but Renji can tell that that’s their natural tone.

“That’s really cool! But wait… what class do you have in common with the asshole?” Renji wonders. Ulquiorra seems really smart and the subject suits them and it makes him even more baffled.

“It’s a creative writing class that everyone can take. Many athletes have been fooled because they heard that it’s really easy but their source failed to inform them that they need to deliver a final paper and get and average or above grade on it if you don’t want to take the midterm exam” they inform him. Right, Renji remember when choosing an extra subject seeing this but he immediately dismissed it as he has no creative or writing bone in his body.

“We are here” Ulquiorra states and points to the door with the number 419 “The lecture has already began”

He curses and goes to open the door. He call out to them “Thanks, I’ll see ya around!” the other doesn’t turn as they leave.

Renji goes into the classroom like a dog with its tail between its legs and hopes he won’t get noticed.

The professor’s glare is telling him otherwise.

After class he gets a warning by the professor, who kept long enough to be late to practice which results in him getting yelled at by Tatsuki and she makes him do double the amount of running laps.

But as his thoughts start drifting as he runs, he finds himself regretting nothing about today.

~ ~ ~ ~

Typically, by saying ‘see you around’ Renji means small talk in case they meet again. Not ‘I purposely looking around for you to talk because I liked our 10 minute long first  minute’

Yet, here he is, looking around in the campus massive cafeteria for Ulquiorra. Thankfully he’s alone or his friend would never let him live it down. He greets some of the people who know him from the basketball team but so far, no sight of soft looking raven hair and piercing green eyes.

If Rukia knew about how much of a sap he’s being right now, she would have posted the shit out of it in every social media she owns.

He praises the king of all coincidence when he spots a familiar green coat and blindly rushes to them.

“Hey Ulquiorra!” he calls, hoping the other person is actually Ulquiorra. His breath leaves his body when they turn.

“Renji-kun. It’s nice to see you.” They greet him.

“Yeah.”  _What the hell Renji, get a grip!_ “Are you here to eat?”

 

_Wow. Just. Wow. Well done being a loser._

But they don’ t seem to catch on his mental conflict as they answer with the same apathetic tone.

“Obviously. I have class in a little while in a hall near here and I heard that Wednesday food is not completely atrocious.”

Renji actually laughs at that. Ulquiorra may be blunt and seemingly cold but they have a way of dispensing the awkwardness away.

“yeah! I have practice later too! Can I join ya till you go to your class?” he grins when the other give a nod and they stand together in line.

They take a seat in one of the last empty tables, sitting across from each other.  No one says anything as they eat and Renji tries not to be a creep and stare at Ulquiorra for too long.

“Did you get in trouble?” he asks worriedly as he sees some of the football teams members glancing their way.

Ulquiorra follows his stare and bluntly stares at them “the must have heard what happened and the keep their distance. I doubt the whole team is going to defend their teammate with their own careers at stake.”

“But what about those from the other day?”

“Trash.” they shrug  casually “he’s been already expelled from the team due to below average grades and the only time I see him is on our common class once a week. I keep my distance from all of them in any case.” They explain.

“Is that why you are here?” they ask and Renji turns red.

“No! I mean… not entirely” he admits with a sheepish smile. He gets a glare in return. “Come on! Don’t look at me like that! of course I’d be worried! And I really have practice after that so I wasn’t lying!” he tries to explain himself.

“We merely know each other. ” the words make Renji feel a small stab of truth in his chest but it quickly heals when he sees the cute way Ulquiorra tilt their head the slightest.  

“So what?! I think that the events on Monday make us more than acquaintances !” he declares, determined.  Some of the people near them turn to briefly glance at them curiously.

“besides, it’s an honour to finally meet our number one fan. You haven’t missed a game since last year” he tries to grin but it comes out a bit like a grimace. He wanted to bring the subject up more casually but he couldn’t hold his excitement.

He watches in fascination as pale cheek become a bit red.

“I was trying to be discreet” they mumble.

“Nonsense! There is nothing to be discreet about! Having such a dedicated fan is lifting the team spirit up by a lot! Do you play too?”

“Not at all” is the blunt answer “but I enjoy watching the sport. And our university team is good enough to watch” at this Renji believes that the grin he wears is going to split his face.

“Oh, if our number one fan thinks we’re only ‘good enough’, then we must work harder to please” he says in a posh British accent, making them smile a little wider.

“I see. Work hard then”  they look at their watch “now, if you excuse me. I have to head to class”

“But I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” Renji asks hopefully.

Ulquiorra smiles at him “Same time?” Renji nods dumbly “then yes” and then they leave.

Renji goes to practice almost skipping but cuts it out when he sees Tatsuki looking at him with curious look and comments that he looks ‘stupider than usual’.

~ ~ ~ ~

“So!” Rukia calls “Behold! I present you the operation ‘Secret Admirer’!” and opens her sketchbook to show the name of the operation in fancy letters in the page.

They’ve all gathered in Renji and Ikkaku’s dorm, the latter absent as he has a date with his boyfriend, and are talking about finding the secret fan.

Not so secret after all, he thinks.

“First step!” she turns the page and shows a sketch of the court.

“What the hell is that?” Ichigo of course is the one to comment immediately on the drawings “is that supposed to be the court?”

“yes!”

“and those rats are..?”

“they’re bunnies you dumbass! And they’re you! The players!” Rukia answers proudly.

“after all those years your drawing are getting crappier and crappier!” that gains Ichigo a triple whack on the head.

“Hime, you too?”

“Ichigo, don’t be rude! I think Rukia-chan’s pictures are cute!” “ha! In your face!”

Hisagi and Renji sigh as they separate them before they kill each other.

“You make it sound more dramatic than it is Ruks” Tatsuki say when her girlfriend explains her plan.

“Come on! Instead of watching their sweaty asses for an hour…”

“Hey!”

“Well don’t come then!”

“…We can at least pretend to be spies or something.”

“Rukia chan’s right. You know how much I like watching you play Ichigo, but this is far more exciting!” Orihime says as she rubs her grumpy boyfriend’s back in consolation.

“So, we just do nothing?” Hisagi questions

“Exactly!” Rukia claps “as the mastermind of this operation, I’m the most capable”

“Not really judging by your drawings”  Ichigo mumbles.

He gains two sharp jabs from both his sides from Rukia.

Renji decides to finally speak up, satisfied with himself for not laughing in their faces.

“I know who the secret admirer is” he states and waits for the reactions.

Everyone except Tatsuki, who only raises an eyebrow in question, gapes at him.

Then it comes .

“What the hell, Renji! would it kill you telling us before we got excited about the plan?” Rukia says hitting him with her sketchbook.

“That’s why I didn’t tell you before. Your face was hilarious” Orihime pouts at him and crosses her arms.

“So, who is it?” she asks.

“Ulquiorra Cifer.” He says, and he hopes he doesn’t blow his cool attitude with blushing.

“Oh! We have two classes together!” Orihime chirps. “But how do you know them Renji-kun?”

“We meet a few days ago, I got lost looking for a class” he says, leaving out the other part of the story. They didn’t have to know.

“Wait” it’s Tatsuki’s turn to question him and from the glint in her eyes, it’s not going to be good “Is that all you have to say?”

He pales under the intense scrutiny of his friends and mumbles.

“theymighthavebeenoneoftheprettiestpeopleever”

“What was that?” Hisagi says and Renji just glares at his stupid smirking face. There is no way he hasn’t heard him.

“I said that they might have been one of the prettiest people I’ve ever seen” he says a bit louder.

There is silence and then loud snickering who turns into boisterous laughter.

It seemed like his joke earlier was biting him in the ass.

“Change of plans!” Orihime announces “Now it’s operation ‘ask out Cifer-san on a date!’”

_Wait what?_

“What?” he voices his thoughts.

Rukia starts scribbling on her sketchbook again and after a while she shows him a picture.

“What’s that supposed to be?” he turns his head, maybe in another angle he will get it.

“It’s the new plan! We’re going to help you ask them out!” she smiles at him.

“No! I don’t need your help!”

“Of course you do. You haven’t been in a relationship since our first year, man. and even that lasted only two months.” Hisagi says.

“Maybe I don’t want to be in a relationship.”

“Yeah because declaring someone the most attractive person you’ve seen—no no let me finish!—then coming to practice and daydreaming with that love struck look of yours. Dude you got more balls in the face because the last week than the whole two years we’ve been playing together!” Ichigo calls him out and he leaves him speechless.

In the end he sighs and looks at the five pairs of eyes looking at him expectantly.

“Fine”  

~ ~ ~ ~

He sees Ulquiorra almost every day after first meeting, always at the cafeteria even if they didn’t always stay. Sometimes they had homework to do, so they went to the library to study. Renji mostly went to sleep and occasionally subtly stare at them as they study. That’s when he discovers that they wear classes and they good really fucking gorgeous with them.

The first time he saw it, he choked on his own saliva.

Even if Ulquiorra is not the most talkative of people, Renji was patient to let them open up in their own pace. It started with talking about classes or practice (even if they didn’t play, they had a solid opinion for the gameplay, leaving Renji impressed) and went to personal interests. Turns out they have few things in common except basketball, but that doesn’t discourage him, he was known for his open personality and his ability to hang out with any decent person, no matter how much they have in common.

He strikes a conversational goldmine when he learns that their love of horror movies is one thing they have in common. From then he sees the tension in Ulquiorra’s shoulder lessen bit by bit and that they smile more. Not a large grin, but a small pull up of their lips. And it still makes Renji’s heart flutter.

On the day of their first official match on the tournament he dares ask them if they’ll come to the first official match of the season. It’s almost the end of semester and people are already having their noses in their books. Their shoulders tense a bit and they end up saying that they have a major project they can’t neglect. Renji of course understands. It’s not hard to imagine staying on top of your class and maintaining and academic scholarship. Orihime and Hisagi are in the same position.

Even if they are the biggest fan of the basketball club, having them possibly fail for an exam and losing the scholarship is not an option Renji wants to think.

Still he’s pretty down, until Ulquiorra says that maybe next time, they’ll come.

~ ~ ~ ~

The day of the first match comes and Renji feels the blood in his veins pulsing with every move he makes. The team they are playing is one of their strongest opponents and there is no room for losing if they want to win the championship.

Tatsuki is calmly retelling them the strategy and his eyes take every detail. When it’s finally time to get on the court the gives Hisagi, who’s become a nervous wreck, an encouraging yet hard hit in the back to snap him out of it.

The game starts intense, as predicted. Renji is too focused to see anything beyond the game in front of him, sometimes not even the score . He dribbles and he passes and shoots the ball like it’s the only thing he can do.

When the buzzer echoes, cheering can be heard and he lifts his head to see the score, heart still pounding but for a reason other than adrenaline.

 He exhales in relief when he sees that they won and unties his hair, letting the red strands free from the almost ripping tie. He high fives his teammates and hugs Ichigo and Hisagi from the excitement.

He looks at Tatsuki who has a prideful look on her face as she talks with some of the players, with Rukia on her side to also congratulate them. She locks eyes with Renji and smile at each other before she comes and gives him a hard slap on the back. He yelps buy he’s still smiling.

“Have you guys seen Orihime?” Ichigo comes up to them looking around for the last redhead of their group.

Rukia only smiles mischievously and looks at Renji with a smug look, like she knows something he doesn’t. She only does that when she wants to fuck with him.

And he gets the reason why she is smiling like that when he sees Orihime coming to greet them but she isn’t alone.

Apparently the plan was somehow still operating as he sees Ulquiorra with her, their expression as passive as ever.

Renji remembers that it’s right after the match and he is sweaty as fuck, jersey clinging to his body and hair a red mess. And now that he sees them, in all their mysterious glory, wearing all black, he sweats even more.

As they approach Renji is constantly reminding himself _don’t fuck it up don’t fuck it up I swear the god don’t fuck it up_ , when they are suddenly in front of each other.

He grin is a mix of glee and nervousness and he wipes the back of his neck with the towel.

“Hey! I didn’t think you’d come!” he says and he prays it doesn’t sound as high pitched as the thinks.

“I left the library earlier tonight. I arrived in the middle of the game” they answer.

“Oh.. and what do you think? Is our number one fan impressed?” he teases and he hears Rukia snort from behind him. He resists the urge to turn and glare at her.

“For a first game, it was not terrible” they say matter-of-factly but he can detect a mischievous tone on their words “if you keep it up for the next games, I might be impressed”

“Then you have to come and see”  _smooth Renji_  

Ichigo and Tatsuki join Rukia on laughing at his expense. _Fuck you guys, what a great support you are._

The corners of their black painted lips pull up into a smile as they grab one of Renji’s arms in one hand and the other goes into the pale blue messenger bag. Before he can protest, the words die on his tongue as he is brought even closer to them and Renji is faced with the smell of wood and honey.

Suddenly they pull back  “I won’t have a device until the day after tomorrow. I’m also not fond of overly crowed small places. I’ll see you” they pull him again so that they can speak directly into his ear “Renji-kun” they whisper and leave the court, but not before sending a small wave to his friends behind him, who are oddly silent.

He frozen in place, eyes never leaving Ulquiorra’s retreating form, until the coach yells at them to get going.

He turns to his friends, who seem just as shocked as he is. They all have the same question.

 

“What the fuck just happened?” he yells.

It’s Orihime who snaps out of it first “Abarai-kun… you, um, have something on your arm” but she is smiling sweetly at him.

He looks at the arm Ulquiorra was holding and he sees numbers written on it with a steady and neat handwriting… _wait, is that  dark green eyeliner?_

His friends start laughing at him again Rukia wheezing as she tries to speak at the same time and Tatsuki clutches her stomach.

The words Ulquiorra said to him before the leave suddenly click and he releases the biggest sigh of relief in his life.

Then,  “Oi! Quit laughing and get me my phone, before I sweat it off!”

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt in the summary was originally about football/soccer but I changed it because writing about soccer in English was so frustruating to me for some reason!  
> The other prompt is "You’re the cute nerd that keeps getting pushed around but you just punched your bully and I gotta save you" but with alterations here and there!


End file.
